For the Birds

Last week Spirit, a live hawk mascot released by the Atlanta Hawks before a playoff game, refuses to return to his handler. When he turns up on a basket, several players freak out, leading to a delay as the bird's handler wrangles it.

2003 The Yankees pay 10 grand to have Challenger, a bald eagle, land on the pitcher's mound before Game 1 of the ALCS. However, the bird is spooked by an F-14 flyover and nearly hits Derek Jeter in the face. "He was a little off today," says Jeter. Challenger is not asked back for Game 2.

1988 Several doves released in the opening ceremonies for the Seoul Games land on the unlit Olympic torch cauldron. Some—but, alas, not all—successfully scatter when the cauldron is lit.

1968 Tawalki, an Air Force Falcons mascot, goes AWOL during a stunt at Florida. When a falcon is spotted the next day at a nearby golf course, would-be rescuers are told to lure it by swinging a piece of meat on a string while whistling. To their embarrassment, the bird had actually been recovered in the parking lot after the game.

The first-round series between Boston and Chicago proved to be a first-class fight as the upstart Bulls played without fear and the Celtics struggled to mount a title defense with one superstar very notably absent

The Canucks' Daniel and Henrik Sedin are beyond symbiotic: They skate on the same line, score the same number of points and play identity tricks on refs. They're also in the second round, so who cares if their coach can't tell them apart?

Kelly Slater is winning world titles again—a record nine and counting—and planning to bring his sport to the masses. But before he could do that, the uneasy rider had to solve the nagging mystery of why he surfed